June 5, 1969 Venice, Italy

It is funny how some things stay with you.  I still remember my disappointment in being in Venice because it rained while we were there.  It had rained all through the night and was cloudy the next day.

We arose in the morning and headed to the Murano Glass Factory.  I mentioned in the diary that we had a guide so I guess we went on a tour.  At the factory I ordered  my hand-blown glasses, engraved and with 18K gold banding.  I ordered 12 champagne flutes and 12 wine glasses and had them shipped home.  I still have all of them.

I discovered that it is really hard to take pictures of etched glass.  Several years ago I was wandering the streets in New York and saw the water glasses that match this set and talked myself out of buying them.  Such willpower.

From the glass factory we went to St. Mark's Square.  I still remember all the tourists feeding the pigeons.  I remember touring the church.

It is funny that now when I see travel videos on TV about St. Mark's there are these unbelievably long lines, yet I do not remember ever standing in long lines to see anything in Venice.

There was a store selling Murano glass and Shar bought some more items to ship home.  I remember a couple from New York who were standing outside the store and looking at the hand-blown glass.  The husband told the wife that he wasn't paying those ridiculous prices for glass when he could buy the same stuff much cheaper at K-Mart.  Americans!

I made mention that we met some sailors who invited us aboard their ship the Nave Umberto Grosso, but I have no memory of that at all.  We did ride in a vaporetto and went back to the hotel.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon walking all over the city.

The total spent today was $89.51.  I still remember that the glasses were $3 each for a total of  $72.  That left $17.51 to cover the tour, the shipping costs, the vaporetto and food.

Shar and I are both starting to feel ill.  Exhaustion, allergies, cold?  I forgot to mention that when we were in Barcelona, it was the first time I had ever been able to 'see' the air.  The pollution was terrible.  Now, four days later, we are both reeling from something.

May 21, 1969 Madrid, Spain

We have some time to kill before we get on the train again so we do what most women do (though not something I would do today) - we went shopping for jewelry.  I bought two rings; one for me and one for my sister.  I have never seen her wear hers and not sure if she still has it.  Here is mine:

Originally the ring had zircons (I think) encircling the pearl, but I had those changed out back in the 70's.  The ring is 18K gold and is quite pretty - not that I wear much jewelry anymore.

Then we went to pick up our mail and I had a few letters from friends back home.  According to the diary we are a day behind on our itinerary.  And I am the one who has messed up.  I did not indicate where we spent an extra day.  I did not keep a copy of the original plan.

For the next week we will be travelling on the train.  Today we arrive in Granada an hour behind schedule.  The man at the information booth got us a reservation at the Hotel La Perla for $1.30 a night.  It's still there but about $63 a night.  El cheapo.

The rings were $20 each and my total for the day was $40.25.  What did I eat???

Cyber Monday

It is no big secret that I am not a shopper.  Every week I receive coupons in the mail and online. Most of them end up in the trash.  $5 off.  $10 off.  Free Shipping.  Buy one get one free.  I could go on and on.  The problem is, you have to spend money to save a few dollars, and unless I really need something I am not about to just 'shop'.  And if I do need it, it is just easier to pay the price at the current rate.  At least for me.

Today is 'Cyber Monday'.  I've been getting emails since last week.  Today I was bombarded with them.  I heard on the radio this morning that retailers are expecting a banner year for holiday shopping.  I admit to having done a bit of it myself.  But I never know what to buy, so checks will again be written.  I am not sure if I will even bother to read the emails I have in the inbox.

I admit that I did take advantage of one offer.  I ordered a new Kindle Fire for myself from Amazon.  I 'decommissioned' the first Kindle I had (I can't believe how heavy it is).  The one I am currently using will be loaded just with Charlie's apps.  Mostly about dinosaurs and trains.  He loves doing the puzzles and even tries to do the spelling apps, though I am never sure if he actually knows how to spell the words or was just lucky.

I do know some folks who feel they must use every coupon because they are saving money.  I've seen stories on TV of women who go 'coupon crazy'.  And I had a friend whose husband would stock up on anything and everything if it was on sale.  When he retired and started doing the grocery shopping, it was a real nightmare.

So how about you?  Black Friday shopper?  Shop local shopper?  Cyber Monday shopper?  Or just all around 'I got a coupon or it's on sale shopper?  Or are you like me and only shop when you actually need to buy something?

I is for Izmaylovo Market, Moscow

  

I know that some folks go on vacation and buy up tons of souvenirs.  I did not do that on this trip, but in hindsight, there are a few things I wish I had picked up while in Russia.

Many items can be found at the Izmaylovo Market.  In case you want some old Soviet memorabilia, this is the place.  Me?  I wish I had grabbed one of the wooden statues of Grandfather Frost.

If matryoshka dolls are your thing, they had plenty of those too.

The market is next to the Ismailovo Park, an honest to goodness tourist trap if I ever saw one.  I was told it was built for the Moscow Olympics.  (They should have hired the Disney Corp.)

Tolkien Bonus:  I is for Isengard, a fortress in Gondor.  In the Third Age Saruman began to live in Isengard, housing Orcs and building his army until Isengard was destroyed by the Ents.

G is for GUM and Gostiny Dvor

I am not a shopper, so it is probably surprising that my choice for the letter 'G' is not one, but two Russian Department stores, GUM on Moscow and Gostiny Dvor in Saint Petersburg. 

GUM has a very interesting history, but walk into the building today and you'd think you were at a mall in the USA.  The store is located in Red Square in Moscow.

Gostiny Dvor is in Saint Petersburg.  I did go into a store to buy a soccer jersey for my grandson.  Since I somehow took no street views of the large store (huh?), here is one of Charlie in a jersey for the FC-Zenit Football Club:

Tolkien Bonus:  G is for Galadriel, a holder of one of the Three Rings, Nenya.  She dwelt in Lorien and gave shelter to the Companions of the Rings during the War of the Ring.

Thanksgiving Eve Thoughts

I have a ton of stuff to accomplish today, but since I won't be posting tomorrow, I wanted to take this chance to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, even those of you who do not live in America.  I am sure you all have much to be thankful for on tomorrow and every day of the year.  Here in the U S of A, we like to eat and take time off of work when we give thanks.  LOL.

Oh, and apparently, we love to shop.  ON the Holiday!!!  Yikes.

I have never gone shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.  EVER.  Needless to say, there is no way I will be jumping up at four tomorrow afternoon so that I can head to the mall.  UGH!

I fondly remember holiday dinners at my grandparent's home.  My Aunt Lillian, who was also my cousin (she and my mother married brothers), was known for taking a long nap after dinner.  No way was she ever going to shop or do much else after eating.  She was very outspoken and I can just imagine her comments about the state of our holiday now.  As the hostess for dinner, I would be very offended if folks showed up to eat and then ran off to shop. Better they should just go to McDonald's for dinner.

I have much to be grateful for including the fact that this is not my fence:

We had a huge windstorm on Monday.  I walked into my kitchen around four in the afternoon and did a double take.  The neighbor's fence just blew over in the wind.  One of the reason I have a shadow box fence instead of a solid one is that mine allows passage of the wind.  I sure hope this gets fixed before the deer see my open yard as a buffet table.

So, I am off to the store for a quick errand and then I will come home and make my pumpkin pie.  The turkey is brining and the salmon is pickling and all is in readiness for our feast.  My mouth is watering already.  Have a very happy day with family and friends if you are celebrating.

 Happy Thanksgiving

My Life in Heels

When I worked in the hospital laboratory, I wore what we referred to as 'granny shoes'.  They were lace-up white shoes with low heels.  You would only wear them to work.  You would certainly not wear them for anything else.

They were worn daily with support hose.  No woman on her feet all day in a lab would think of wearing anything else.

I took ten years off of work to raise my family.  During that time I chose comfortable footwear.  I spent a lot of time around the house in my bare feet.  I only wore heels when I went to church. 

When I went back to work at Town hall, I wore suits and high heels everyday.
 

After I broke my leg in 2007, I got rid of all of my high heels.  Frankly, I did not feel comfortable or steady wearing them.  And now I have really gotten used to wearing very low-heeled shoes when I go out and spend my time at home in slippers or bare-feet, again.

This morning I received an email from DSW.  I could not believe the shoes.   Where do you wear these?  How do you walk?  It is like a disaster waiting to happen.  I guess you need the really high heel to accommodate the really high platform.

I know that I did not do my body any favors when I was wearing high heels, though they do make your legs look good.  I can just imagine the issues that today's women will have as they age if they wear these shoes for any length of time. 

Just how high can we go?

Shopping? Really?

I am not a shopper.  So, with today's 'capturing December' theme of 'shopping', I am kind of stuck.  I could have gone to the mall to find some interesting decorations, but then I would have the aggravation of just dealing with the crowds.  Besides, I had a nice luncheon with my old professional friends from work and going off to anyplace to shop was not even remotely tempting.

So, here are some holiday photos I took at the grocery store on Tuesday, the one place I don't mind shopping.

More Birthday Treats

It is a good thing I am not much of a shopper or I could go broke celebrating my birthday.  Whether it is email or snail mail, I keep getting coupons good for money off of my purchases.

Some I will not use.  It was nice of DSW to send me a coupon, but I just cleaned out my shoe closet and do not need any new shoes or boots.  I also will likely pass on the birthday deals from Home Depot and Office Max among others.

I do need to pick up some supplements from Vitamin World, so I will head over there tomorrow and use that coupon.  Same for the Busch's coupon for my grocery shopping.

Various other offers have landed in the trash, whether online or at the curb.  I never thought much about info I provide the companies I do business with, but I could spend a whole lot to save a little on my birthday, IF I was a shopper.

I think coupon clipping can become an addiction.  I do know folks who clip every coupon out of the paper and feel some need to use them.  I think I throw away more coupons than I ever use.  My system is to cut them out of the newspaper, use them if I am buying the item because I need it, or eventually throw it away if it has already expired (which seems to happen to a lot of them).

So, I'll enjoy my day and let the merchants find other folks to take them up on their '$$$ off' offers.  But keep them coming, 'cause I might eventually have a need to spend.

P.S. Thanks to those who sent birthday wishes.

The Case for Online Shopping

Despite what you might think from my earlier post about having too many shoes, I do not like to shop.  I only end up with lots of shoes due to the need to match different outfits, weather conditions, and occasion.

After I finished my hour of cleaning drawers this morning, I headed to the mall to replace some old sleepwear I threw out that had been in the bottom of the drawer for who knows how long.  Actually, I think I have dust cloths in better shape.

I went to a large mall in a nearby community.  Back in the 1970's this mall was proposed for our community, but the local tree-huggers (and non-shoppers) objected.  So off I went to visit the Soma store in the mall ten miles away.

As soon as you enter the mall they have music playing.  Then as you go past each store, the music from each of them is blaring out into the hall.  When you actually enter the store, it is deafening.  The clerk's in the Chico's store were busy discussing the music they had playing.  No one bothered to ask if they could help until I was on my way out.

How do they work all day with this noise?  I walked past one store and if you closed your eyes you might think you were in a disco.  And I was still outside.  Geez.

I strolled into a Lucy store to look for yoga tops.  Again the music was blaring.  By now, I had a headache.  I remembered that a friend says she just orders her stuff from them online.  But if you are that inconsiderate of the shoppers in your store, I am not sure I want to spend my money there.

I don't like to shop, but it is sometimes necessary.  I think if I ran a business, I'd be more concerned with the comfort of my shoppers than I would be in playing hip-hop music for my sales staff. 

Shopping from home.  No stinky perfumes or blaring music.  Sounds tempting.